Possible reasons for anomalous fading in alkali feldspars used for luminescence dating of Quaternary deposits

According to many publications, alkali feldspars are characterized by specific athermal (anomalous) fading of their thermoluminescence and optically-stimulated luminescence. This phenomenon is manifested as spontaneous decline in luminescence intensity over relatively long (months and years) time after laboratory irradiation, possibly due to tunnelling of electrons from lattice defects and impurities acting as dosimetric traps. It can hamper reliable luminescent dating of Quaternary deposits on the basis of feldspar extractions due to possible unpredictable underestimation of the ages. In this paper we present some experimental results related to the manifestation of the phenomenon. It is found that, in general case, the assumed long-term anomalous fading cannot be connected to electron tunnelling from the deep dosimetric traps. At the same time, some decrease in the dosimetric luminescence signal observable in just irradiated feldspar samples can really be caused by tunnelling. However, the probability of this process quickly goes down, already within some days after irradiation. Interpretation of some other short- and long-term anomalous fading-like effects requires involvement of radiation- and thermo-induced ionic processes.